Co-op Broadband is changing its email service – here's what you need to do

This article was originally published on 1 November 2023. It was updated after Co-op Broadband contacted us to say it had changed its deadline to register for migration from 5 November to 26 November, and the transfer of mailboxes from 6 November to December 2023/January 2024.

Co-op has confirmed plans to close its email service and transfer all associated customer email addresses to a new home. So Co-op broadband customers need to take action now.

If you have a Co-op Broadband account, you will need to migrate your email address or create a new address to avoid losing your messages. The deadline to register for migrating your address is 26 November. Migrating your email address via Co-op will cost you money - annual costs start from £24 for one mailbox and 5GB of storage.

Below, our Which? Tech Support experts explain how to transfer messages in your Co-op Broadband inbox to a new account for free. 

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Co-op addresses customers

A Co-op Broadband spokesperson said: 'After careful consideration, we have agreed to transfer our existing email service to another Co-operative provider, Innovation.coop (trading as Mail.coop)...This will offer an alternative solution that allows customers and members to retain their email addresses.

'Any customers or members wishing to retain their current email address will need to fill out the registration form via www.mail.coop by 26 November.'

(Initially, Co-op Broadband told us that customers would have until 5 November to fill in the registration form  - the quote above has been updated.)

Our Tech Support expert says:

'Co-op Broadband will be changing platforms next month. If you currently have a Co-op email address, you have two options:

1. Migrate your email address to the new platform Co-op offers. This will let you keep your current email address but incurs a yearly cost of £24 per mailbox for 5GB storage, plus other features, or £50 for 25GB and five mailboxes.
2. Create a new email address for free. We always recommend moving away from email addresses hosted by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). This means you can continue to use the same email address, regardless of your ISP.

'If you choose the latter, Gmail.com and Outlook.com are the free providers that we recommend.

'After creating a new email address, you need to let contacts know of the change – using your existing email address, send a message to your contacts letting them know you’ll soon be moving to a new email address.

'You also need to update your online subscriptions and services, which might take a while depending on how many sites you are signed up for. Log on to each website associated with your old email address and update your details.

'Finally, you might want to copy your emails and folders to your new address. Below, we've got the details on how to move data over to a new mailbox.'

Which? Tech Support

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How to move your emails to another account

If you're currently using an email client such as Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird, you can add your Co-op account and copy old messages to their new home.

First, you'll need to temporarily install eM Client, which is used to copy your Co-op emails over. Next, run through these steps:

1. Open the eM Client app, then select Mail > Other (shown below)
2. When prompted, enter this IMAP address under 'Incoming server': imap.myphone.coop (port 143)
3. Enter the following IMAP address under 'Outgoing server': smtp.myphone.coop (587)
4. Choose Continue without encryption.

The next step is to add your Outlook or Gmail email address. To do that, choose Menu > Accounts > Add account.

Once both accounts have been added, you can copy the folders over to your new mailbox. If you have lots of emails, we suggest copying one folder at a time so you don’t get any timeout errors. Right-click on the folder and select Copy folder.

Pick the new mailbox you’ve created as the destination folder, as shown below.

Once the copy has finished, your Co-op emails and folders will live in your new mailbox. They'll also be available in webmail or any other device you have set up with an IMAP account.

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